FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT LISA MADIGAN - PAGE 2

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan brushed aside questions Wednesday about whether her father, powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, has ever asked her to hire or give a raise to someone and also denied she misled campaign donors when raising money for a possible bid for governor. The attorney general announced this week that she instead will seek a fourth term as the state's chief lawyer, saying Illinois "would not be well served" with a governor and House speaker from the same family.

SPRINGFIELD --- Gov. Pat Quinn today called on Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a court order that requires Illinois to approve legislation this spring that would let citizens carry guns in public. The governor's move ramps up pressure on Madigan, a potential rival to Quinn in the March 2014 Democratic primary campaign, to keep the court fight alive. The Illinois General Assembly is working on fashioning legislation to put a concealed weapons law in place.

SPRINGFIELD - A divided federal appeals court today rejected Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's request for a rehearing on the case where the state has been ordered to allow citizens to carry guns in public. Madigan made the request following the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision in December that gave Illinois 180 days to put together a law that would allow concealed weapons in Illinois. Madigan has not made a decision on whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said Maura Possley, Madigan spokeswoman.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Wednesday refused to say she would complete her third term if she is re-elected in November, leaving the door open for a run for Chicago mayor. Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, was asked repeatedly in a Tribune interview whether she would pledge to serve out her four-year term if re-elected. She declined to give a yes or no answer, instead talking about how much she enjoyed her current position. "I want to serve as your attorney general.

Lisa Madigan ordered iced tea. I ordered hot coffee. I had biscotti. She refrained. Seems we still can't agree. I ripped Madigan several times last spring during the Democratic primary for attorney general for not distancing herself from the heavy-handed (and ultimately successful) efforts of her powerful father, Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan, to win her the nomination. But I offered no apology and she didn't ask for one when we met last week at a Northwest Side Starbucks, one-on-one.

The brief passage in Lisa Madigan's biography that says she spent a year after college as a volunteer teacher in South Africa is reassuring. From June 1988 to June 1989, Madigan, now the Democratic candidate for Illinois attorney general, lived in the strife-torn nation and taught in an overcrowded parochial girls school in the predominately black province of KwaZulu-Natal. She lived in a convent and worked days that began before 8 a.m. and sometimes didn't end until she finished grading papers at 2 a.m. Not that this tells us she's a saint.

State Sen. Lisa Madigan holds a sizable early advantage over John Schmidt for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, and an overwhelming majority of prospective primary voters said her powerful political pedigree is irrelevant to them, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows. Still, 3 of every 10 voters said they are undecided in a contest that pits strong organizational backing for Madigan against Schmidt's independent support and personal bankroll. The poll of 600 likely voters who said they would cast a ballot in the March 19 Democratic primary found 45 percent favored Madigan and 23 percent were for Schmidt.

By Ray Long and John McCormick, Tribune staff reporters | September 22, 2002

House Speaker Michael Madigan's patronage army is digging deep into its own pockets to support his daughter's political career, a computer analysis of campaign records shows. As a Democratic state senator from the North Side and now candidate for attorney general, Lisa Madigan has won significant financial backing from workers on state, city, county and other local government payrolls who have long given to the 13th Ward Democratic organization controlled by her father. At least 82 public employees who are generous contributors to 13th Ward Democrats have also anted up nearly $125,000 to Lisa Madigan's political fund in the three years that ended June 30, records show.

Struggling to reconcile her family loyalties and political future, Democratic attorney general candidate Lisa Madigan said Monday that prosecutors should look into allegations that her powerful father used taxpayer money to rent an office to further the re-election efforts of Democratic lawmakers. "These are serious allegations, and they should be investigated," she said. Later Madigan added, "If there is evidence of wrongdoing, prosecutions should be done ... even if it involves my father."